Lubricating system



P. H. GASKINS.

LUBRICATING SYSTEM;

APPLICATION FILED ocr. s. 1921.

PatentedSept. 19,1922.

INI E/VTOR S M 8 M T l W Patented Sept. 19, 1922.

' FHCE,

I YALEMON H. GASKINS, JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA.

v 1 Original application filed January of Jacksonville, in the county ,of Duv'al and State of Florida, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Lubricating Systems, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates in general to lubrieating systems and more particularly to a lubricating system. for the shackle connections and springs of vehicle spring suspensions such as shown in my co-pending appli-;

. otally connected at their ends to the shackle cation for lubricating systems, filed January 10, 1921, Serial No. 436,207, .of which this application is a division.

The object of my invention is to provide a lubricating system of this character-which maintains a film of oil or other lubricant between all of the relatively movable parts of the shackle connection and which utilizes the excess oil from the shackle connection to lubricate the spring, the excess oil being taken up and distributed over the spring so as to find'its way in between theleaves thereof, thereby reducing wear, eliminating noise and insuring leven, smooth and eflicient action of the spring suspension.

' Another object is to provide a'lubricating system of this character which is of ex-' .tremely simple and durable construction, re-

liable in. operation, readily organized with the elements of the conventional spring sus- J pension, and easy andinexpensive to manufacture and maintain.

Other objects and advantages of the invention reside in certain novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts, which will be hereinafter more fully described and particularly pointed out in the appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification, and in which: Figure 1 isia fragmentary view in longi tudinal vertical section through an embodiment of the invention, parts being shown in I elevation for the sake of illustration; and

Figure 2 is a view in transverse vertical and threaded into the axial bore 10 of the upper shackle bolt 10 and its other end105' section, on line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings wherein for the sake of illustration is shown the pre ferred embodiment of the invention, the character G designates generally a side member of a chassis of a vehicle which'compri'ses a channeled construction including a body link 13. A bushing LUBRIQATING SYST M.

10, 1921, Serial No. 436,207. Divided and this application filed Octoher- 6, 1921. Serial No. 505,821.

portion 0' and *side flanges c and 0 A sprlng suspension including ale'af spring L is associated with the chassis, one end of the leaf spring being pivotally secured to the side member Cof the chassis by a shackle connection designated generally as.

The shackle connection S includes an upper shackle bolt 10 extending through 'sultableiopeningsprovided therefor in the s1de flanges c and c of the side member of the chassis and a lower shackle bolt 11 extending through the eye L of the leaf spring, Hangers or links 12 and 13 are pivand spring and the link 13 being maintained in proper'position on the shackle bolts by means of nuts 14 and 15 threaded on the shackle bolts 10 and 11. Washers 16 and 17 are preferably interposed between the nuts. 14 and'l5 and the adjacent portions of the 19 is mounted on the lower shacklebolt 12 between the shackle bolt and the eye L of the leaf spring L.

The shackle bolts 10 and 11 are ofidenti- 'cal construction and are each providedwith I axial bores, designated at 10 andll respectively, radial bores 10 and 11 communicating with said axial. bores and dis- 'posed approximately centrally of the shackle bolts and peripheral grooves 10 and 11 communicating with the radial bores 10 and- 11", respectively.

cans is provided for supplying lubricant to said shackle bolts and includes a bushing 20 mounted on the portion of the upper shackle bolt 10 comprehended between the side flanges c and '0 and a lubricant supply pipe 21 arranged inthe channel of the chassis and conveying a supply of lubricant under pressure from a reservoir or other suitable source of supply. A branch 22 extends from the supply pipe 21 through the bushing 20 and "communicates with the pe- 1 00 ripheral bolt. 7

A pipe connection 24 has one end o'fiset groove 10 of the upper shackle similarly ofl'set and threaded into the axial bore 11* of the lower shackle bolt 11.: The" pipe connection 24 affords a free and unob-f s'tructed conduit through which the lubrisembly on the spring and the meeting ends of the upper shackle bolt 10 into the axial bore of the lower shackle bolt 11.

The excess oil from the shackle connection is utilizedtolubricate the leaf spring L, and for this purpose an envelope of absorbent material, designated at 25 encases the leaf spring and extends, ariound" the shackle connection. The envelope of absorbent material takes up the excess oil from the shackle connect-ion anddistributes it over the entire surface of the leaf spring so that it finds its way in betweenthe leaves thereof A boot or casing 26 of. flexible and impervious material encases the envelope and serves to confine the lubricant to the envelope. ,The boot 86 is split to ermit asof the split are provided with a lacing device 27 or other suitable fastening means for securing said meetingends together. Ad-

-jacent the shackle connection, the boot is provided with a-removabl'e section 28 slotted, as at 29, to acconnnodate the hangers of the shackle connection and releasably secured in position b means ofsnap fasteners 1 30. The boot is a so slotted as at '31 to ac commodate theprojecting end of the lower shackle bolt. In operation, the. lubricant flows through the supply pipe 21'under pressure and from the branch 22 thereof is fed into the peripheral groove 10?- of the upper shackle bolt 10. From the peripheral groove 10 a part of the lubricant is distributed over the surface of-the upper shackle bolt and over the contactingsurfaces of adjacent relatively movable parts and the remainder of the lubricant flows through the radial bore 10, axial bore 10 and p1pe connection QAinto the axial bore 11 of the lower shackle bolt and thence through the radial bore 11 thereperipheral groove 11 from of into" the whence it is distributed over the contacting surfaces of the adjacent relatively movable parts.

The excess oil from the shackle connec- ,tion is taken up or absorbed by the wicking or absorbent material 25 and discharged therethrough and consequently over. the entire area of the leaf spring, and from the wicking finds its way in between the leaves of the spring. The lubricant is confined by the casing 26 to the wicking and the spring and at the same time as both the wicking and the casing are'flexible theyin nowise interfere with the flexion .or other action of the spring, The casing. and wicking are easily assembled on the spring and when once assembled need no further attention.

Tn this manner a film of oil is obtained between all of the movable parts of the reducing insuring the lubricant supplied to the passages of one 1 of the shackle bolts bythe supply pipe to the passages of theo'ther of said shackle bolts, and means for utilizing the excess lubricant from the shackle connection to lubricate the spring and including an envelope of absorbent material encasing the spring and'associated with the shackle connection and a boot of flexible impervious material encasing the absorbent envelope 2. In a lubricating system, in combination, a chassis, a spring, a shackle connection between the chassis and spring including upper and lower shackle bolts, means for supplying lubricant to the upper shackle bolt, means for lubricating the lower shackle bolt from the upper shackle bolt, and means for utilizing the excess lubricant from the shackle connection to lubricate the spring and comprising an envelope of absorbent material encasing the spring and associated with the shackle connection, and a boot, of flexible impervious material encasing said absorbent envelope,

rarer/ion n. enemas. 

